Just Friends
by cassandrathevil
Summary: RemusSirius. Remus finds himself in a dilemma and isn't quite sure how to handle it.


**Author's Notes: **I am ashamed to admit it but I am posting this at five in the morning on no sleep at all, so if you notice any glaring (or not so glaring) errors please, please, please tell me of them. Enjoy!

A flutter of breath across his cheek. A brush of the other boy's palm up and down his back, teasing, caressing. His leg was folded uncomfortably underneath his body and Sirius's bony elbow was digging into his other leg but he didn't really care. He didn't really notice, not when their mouths were so close together. The tips of their noses touched, and Remus could almost feel the energy in the air between them. A smile, a gentle nudge. They leaned forward in tandem, and then --

-- the telltale thump of Peter's feet ascending the stairs resonated throughout the room. Sirius heaved himself away from Remus, quicker than lightning, and the bewildered werewolf only just pulled his shirt back down his torso as the door burst open.

"Hey, guys," said Peter, collapsing on his bed, not noticing Remus's flushed skin or the furtive glance the other boys shared. "James and Evans are having another almighty row so I reckoned I'd head up here while I was still safe. What've you been up to?"

"Oh, nothing," Remus said, allowing annoyance into his voice, knowing that Peter couldn't detect it even if he tried. "Just sitting here." He pulled his knees up to his chest and frowned. He shouldn't be annoyed, really. He didn't have a reason to be annoyed. It wasn't like Peter had interrupted anything _important_. After all, Remus and Sirius were just friends. Just friends who occasionally snogged in deserted corridors between classes and laid together in bed, in the dead of the night, fingers and limbs and tongues entwined. Sirius was just a friend. Just a friend, who made his stomach flip with every touch and his entire day brighten with every toothy grin in his direction.

Remus looked up as the mattress dipped. Sirius gave him an apologetic smile as he returned to his own bed, and Remus returned the smile before even thinking about it.

As Peter babbled about whatever inane things were happening in the Common Room, Remus reached for his homework pile, determined not to think about what might have happened had Peter not barged in.

* * *

That night at dinner, Sirius took his seat next to Remus. James was too busy eyeing Lily across the table and Peter was too busy eyeing the shepherd's pie, so neither of them noticed as Sirius's hand crept up and down Remus's left thigh. As the tables cleared, Lily came over to lay a hand on Remus's forehead.

"Remus, are you all right?" she inquired. "Why, your face is all flushed. Do you think you're sick?"

"I'm fine," Remus insisted, abruptly standing, ignoring the black-haired boy's knowing smirk and how cold his left leg suddenly felt. "Really, Lily. I think I'm just wearing too many layers, or something. I'm fine."

He kept repeating this mantra to himself on the way back to the common room, when he finished his Charms essay, and when he went to the dorm to change into his pyjamas. He chanted it with renewed fervor when Sirius changed into his ratty sleep pants, forgoing a shirt altogether, and didn't stop until the quiet snores and muffled movements of his dorm mates lulled him to sleep many hours later.

* * *

The next morning Remus awoke at dawn to a hand between his legs and sticky sheets. He glared at his hand for betraying him in his sleep and practically ran to the bathroom lest his friends see the stain on the front of his trousers.

As he stepped into the shower he heard the bathroom door creak open. He peeked his head over the curtain and saw Sirius staring back at him.

"Wotcher, Moony?" Sirius winked and Remus felt a blush spreading across his face. He quickly ducked his head and hastily grabbed for the tap, turning the water as cold as he could stand.

Later he found himself at the breakfast table, hastily making corrections to his friends' essays. There wasn't any toast left, and none of his favorite jam, and Sirius wasn't sitting next to him. His left leg still felt strangely cold and he felt a headache coming on.

A high-pitched giggle sounded from somewhere across the table, grating Remus's nerves. He glanced up to see Missy Bishop, a Hufflepuff sixth-year, standing possessively over Sirius, smiling down at him. Sirius wore a lascivious grin and stood, whispering something in her ear that made her giggle once more and scamper back to her table.

This was _not_ shaping up to be a very good morning.

"What was that all about?" asked James, waggling his eyebrows wildly at his best friend. "Hot date tonight? Don't bring her straight to the Astronomy tower, you know they don't like that --"

Sirius snorted and threw a piece of bacon at James, who caught it easily in his mouth. "Like you would know what the birds like. You've been chasing after Evans for _how_ long?"

James' face darkened at the mention of Lily. "Yeah, well, she'll see the light of day eventually. I mean, how long can you ignore my wonderful face? Not to mention my rock-hard abs and sexy muscles and --"

"The disgusting rat's nest on top of your head?" Remus offered, rolling up the scrolls in front of him and handing them back to his friends. "Yes, James, I can see why she's obviously tripping over herself to get to you." He paused for a moment to gather his books and then said, "Well, I'll be in the library if anyone needs me."

As Remus rushed out of the Great Hall, he swore he heard Missy Bishop's piercing giggle over every other noise.

* * *

The bed hangings of Remus's bed were shoved apart and he felt the bed dip as Sirius's warm body joined his.

"Remus?" he whispered, laying a hand on his friend's shoulder, five points of warmth spreading to his skin. "Are you awake?"

"I am now," Remus replied, scooting over to make more room. Sirius lifted the blanket and covered himself, and the two boys drew closer, effortlessly aligning together from head to toe, wordlessly wrapping themselves in a tight embrace. Remus automatically rested his forehead on the other boy's shoulder and Sirius twined his fingers through Remus's hair.

"Remus?"

"Yes, Sirius?"

"What was wrong today?"

Remus sighed and lifted his head up, replying, "I'm not sure. I think it's just the stress. You know, exams are soon and all." It had nothing to do with Missy Bishop's laugh and the absence of Sirius's fingers at mealtimes, or the lack of free time between classes to do whatever they pleased. It had nothing to do with unwillingly imagining what the very fingers weaved through his hair could be doing to other parts of his body.

"Oh, Moony. It's just exams." Sirius placed a gentle kiss on the tip of the werewolf's nose. "If you stress out this much you'll just do worse, you know."

"I know," Remus replied, looking into the other boy's eyes. They were so gray, and so close. "I just don't know how to unwind."

A wicked glint passed through those fathomless gray eyes as Sirius said, "Well, I've got an idea for you." Before Remus could blink his lips were captured in a kiss. He pushed himself forward, trying to keep the keening noises from escaping his mouth, in fear of waking up James or Peter. His hands roved everywhere, from Sirius's face to his chest to his arse and back and he just couldn't get enough. Sirius tasted like sugar and chocolate and Remus wondered what he himself tasted like -- probably fish and eggs or wet dog or something equally disgusting.

The kiss slowed and Remus found his arms around his friend's neck once more. His breaths were quick and shallow and he was sure that he was glistening with sweat.

"There," Sirius whispered, tracing a scar on the werewolf's cheek with a delicate fingernail. Remus shivered so slightly he doubted Sirius even noticed. "All relaxed now?"

"Yeah," said Remus, allowing Sirius to capture one more kiss before he went back to his own bed. Remus wrapped himself up in the warmth of his blanket, feeling far from relaxed.

* * *

A few days later Remus found Sirius and Missy kissing at the bottom of the fourth floor staircase. Sirius's hands were on her waist and her fingers were tangled in his hair. Even from down the hallway he could see how close they were standing. The hold Remus had on his bag gave way and it thudded loudly when it hit the ground. They didn't even notice.

Missy giggled.

Remus fled.

* * *

Remus liked to think he was somewhat intelligent -- he wasn't like James or Sirius, who passed nearly every exam with flying colors without even opening a book, and granted, he was rather unfortunate when it came to Potions, but he still possessed a working brain.

So he did what he did best. Remus thought. He deliberated, examined, analyzed and dissected every little Sirius-related aspect in his life, which there were rather a lot of.

When he finally came to a conclusion about the whole mess he landed himself in, he realized that he _really_ should have seen this coming. There was only so much he could chalk up to hormones. Hormones could explain the snogging and the touching )and the sometimes uncontrollable erections) but they definitely could not explain the _feeling_.

No, they couldn't explain the feeling. The fluttery feeling, the happy feeling, the feeling that was so similar to being high on gillyweed (not that Remus had ever done that, ever, not in a million _years, _he swears).

Hormones really couldn't excuse the fact that Remus was in _love._

* * *

Remus heard his bed hangings being opened and opened his eyes. "No," he said immediately, looking the other way. "No, you're not allowed into my bed because you are an utter _berk_ and if you don't know what you did you're not allowed to talk to me. _Ever._ Please go back to sleep."

The bed tipped anyway. Sirius climbed into his bed and Remus cursed himself as he moved closer to the other boy.

"I hate you," Remus said darkly. "I really do."

"Oh, Remus, why would you say that?"

"Do you know what you do to me?" Remus asked, deliberately not making eye contact. "You make me feel like a bloody girl, and I hate it. And I hate you. Did I mention that?"

"I think you did." Sirius looked almost amused. Remus couldn't see how this situation could possibly be amusing in any sense. A warm hand started to caress the skin between his shoulder blades, making Remus sigh in something like contentment.

"Why are you here? I hate you. Why would you want to spend time with someone who hates you?"

"Well, I have something to tell you."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Okay, get on with it, so I can kick you out of my bed and go back to plotting your untimely demise."

"All right. I love you."

"Okay, you can leave now -- wait, _what_?"

"I love you." A line started to appear on Sirius's brow and he frowned slightly, as if in worry. "Um. Is that all right?"

"You love me." Remus leaned back a few inches and looked his companion dead in the eye. "You love me, so you go off and snog stupid, giggling girls. Not, it is _not_ all right, Padfoot!"

Sirius had the grace to look chagrined. "Oh, she was such a silly bint anyway. I just had to be sure..."

"Sure of _what_, exactly?"

"I just had to be sure that it didn't feel so amazing when I kissed anyone else."

Remus gave Sirius a look. "You have got to be the corniest person I know."

Sirius grinned widely, and said, "But that's why you love me!"

"What makes you so sure that I love you?"

The smile instantly disappeared off of the black-haired boy's face. He exhaled slowly and his shoulders slumped ever so slightly. "Oh. Well, I didn't think --"

"What. You didn't think that there could possibly be someone in the world that doesn't love you?"

Sirius detangled himself from Remus's arms and slid wordlessly off the bed. He started to creep across the room, back to his own bed, when Remus's whisper broke the silence.

"Wait. Come back." Sirius turned around, his eyes full of hope and wonder. Remus held his arms out, and the other boy grinned once again and practically leaped into his embrace. He resembled his dog form so much in his actions and Remus adored him for it.

"That was cruel!" Sirius said, making himself comfortable in his friend's arms. "And highly unusual for you, Moony."

"Yes, well, you deserved it, you know. Missy Bishop? What on earth is wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry," Sirius said sadly, eyes full of remorse. "I really mean it. I'm so sorry. _You're_ the one I can't stop thinking about, you know."

Remus hugged the other boy close. "I forgive you. Just don't ever do that again. And I love you too, but if this all an elaborate scheme against me, or if you drop me just like you dropped Missy Bishop, I am going to _kill you._"

"Will you two poofters_ shut up_?" James yelled angrily from across the room. "Some of us are trying to sleep, because it is, you know, the middle of the night and all!"

Sirius threw a pillow at James's bed and turned back to stifle Remus's laughter with a kiss.

"Perhaps we should sleep now?"

"I think that's a good idea." They settled against each other as flawlessly as ever and Remus the night through for the first time in weeks.


End file.
